Traction belt



Jan. 2, 1934. 5' KENNEDY 1,942,338

TRACTION BELT Filed Nov. 19, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 my]. 1 196-2.

Jan. 2, 1934- s KENNEDY 1,942,338

TRACTION BELT Filed Nov. 19, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 2, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE England Application November 19, 1932, Serial No. 643,477, and in Great Britain December 4, 1931 12 Claims.

This invention has reference to traction belts of the overall non-skid type for the tires of road vehicles. It has for its principal object to facilitate the tensioning of the customary chains, link bars or coupling members which connect adjacent shoes in the traction belt. Another object is to provide upon an anchorage on the shoe, means for varying the efiective length of the coupling members. A further object is to provide at a single point on the side of the shoe, means for hitching thereto the coupling member in either of two positions.

In carrying out my invention, I mount upon a fixed point on the shoe and between such point and the pulling face of the chain link or coupling member, an intermediate distance piece so formed that it can be used to maintain said pulling face optionally at either a greater or less distance from said fixed point. In this way, the I coupling member can be drawn closer up to the shoe when necessary, by simply reversing the distance piece end to end inside the coupling member or chain link. By means of a retaining plate which is held or clamped towards the 1 side of the shoe by an anchorage post, the distance piece is wholly prevented from falling out of place. This retaining plate may also be employed to clamp the link firmly against the side' of the shoe.

The present invention utilizes existing fixed points on the shoe as hitching points for the pulling faces of the coupling members so that such members are adjustable as to their effective length.

The invention is hereafter described with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 a sectional view of one form of the distance piece. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of a shoe fitted both fore and aft with these distance pieces and having a single retaining plate. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, while Fig. 5 is an end ele vation of part of a link-bar having slots therein for these distance pieces.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing separate retaining plates for the two distance pieces on that side of the shoe. Figs? and 8 are respectively a side elevation and an end elevation, showing another form of shoe fitted with the intermediate distance pieces, the side walls of the shoe being indented. Fig. 9 is a plan view of Fig. 7, seen from the outer side of the shoe. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of part of a shoe showing the retaining plate integral with the shoe. Fig. 11 is a part side elevation of a modification similar to Fig. 4 but showing the retaining plate on the inside of the side wall of the shoe.

The shoe b of this overall traction belt is pro-, vided with the usual tread portion and with side walls b It is of such trough shape as to be engaged by the tire of the wheel, the tread being. set across the line of travel of the belt. A similar shoe is described in my prior patent specifica tion No. 1,808,416.

The extremital chain-links or coupling members a at the front and trailing ends of the shoe b are shown in Fig. 3, as of approximately oval shape. They are each provided with an intermediate distance piece 0 of oblong shape, traversed by the bolt or rivet d which latter forms an anchorage post for the distance piece, this anchorage post being at right angles to the side wall 19 A retaining plate e is also secured over part of the two extremital chain-links a. a by means of the bolts or rivets d, so as to keep the distance pieces or washers c in proper position within the end chain-links a a. In this arrangement the links a. a are mounted upon the exterior wall of the shoe.

The distance piece or washer 0 (shown by itself in Figs. 1 and 2) is bored at c for the bolt (1. It has grooved ends 0 c to engage the irmer curved end or pulling face of the link a. It may be so shaped that it has flat parallel sides 0 c at top and bottom to fit snugly inside the longer and partly parallel bars a of the end chain link a.

The bore 0 is formed towards one end of the distance piece so that contact can be made between the distance piece and the inner bend of the end chain link, by means of either the grooved end 0 adjacent to the bore 0 or the grooved end a remote from that bore, the distance piece being reversed end to end when changing from one position to the other.

In other words, the distance piece 0 is shown of oblongshape, with the bore 0 out of the center of the length of the distance piece so that arms of unequal length are formed, these arms extending in opposite directions from the bore 0 This distance piece 0 may therefore be regarded a. The left hand part of Fig. 3 thus shows the distance piece in the closed-up position for the coupling member a, while the right hand part shows the distance piece moved into the extended position of the coupling member a. The change of position is obtained by reversing the distance piece end to end and sliding it along the gap or slot inside the link viz between the parallel bars a In this way, the adjacent shoes of the overall chain can be brought closer together by shortening the effective length of the coupling members.

The coupling links adjacent to the end links a are indicated at g and may be of any desired number, depending on the distance between successive shoes in the chain.

This removable eccentric washer or distance piece 0 is always of such form as to fit within the interior of the extremital or end chain link a but not to fill the whole of the length of the interior of that link. The top and bottom faces 0 c of the distance piece 0 fit snugly in the space between the upper and lower bars a a of the chain link. Because of the eccentric arrangement of the cross-bore 0 towards one end 0 two positions of this cross-bore are available relatively to the pulling face of the chain link a when secured to the side of the shoe. It is understood, of course, that the coupling members at the other side of the shoes are also provided with these removable eccentric washers or distance pieces 0 c.

A single retaining plate c will serve to anchor the end links a a of two coupling chains to the one .side of the shoe by means of the two bolts or rivets d, but separate retaining plates, one for each end link a may in some cases be employed. Fig. 6 shows two separate retaining plates c e for the fore-and-aft end coupling links a, each such plate being held in position by a bolt or rivet d. The belt d holds the distance piece c in the selected position and the nut d on said bolt clamps the retaining plate e upon the end link a and prevents the distance piece 0 from moving outwardly of the slot in the link it.

Where a single retaining plate e is employed, it may in some cases be formed by the turned back flange of the side wall D of the shoe, as shown in Fig. 10. The bolt 01 then traverses the side wall b link a and plate e.

The retaining plate e holds the distance piece c in position and it preferably also holds the end link a of the coupling chain so firmly against the side of the shoe that the end link or cannot move relatively to the side of the shoe while the retaining plate is in position.

The plate e may with advantage be provided with flanges e directed towards the side wall of the shoe. These flanges e partly enclose the end link a so as to form a housing outside the shoe for the link a and distance piece 0. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 4. The link a being clamped fixedly against the side of the shoe by the nut. d and plate 6, cannot move relatively to said shoe, so that wear of the side of the shoe and of the end link itself is avoided, which would not be the caseif the end link d were free to pivot about the bolt d and make oscillating contact with the side wall b In the left hand side of Fig. '7, the aforesaid housing for the end link a is obtained by an indentation or depression b into the side wall 11 of the shoe. The link a is partly sunk in said indentation and partly enclosed by the flanged plate e e so that it fits snugly in the indentation 12 In the right-hand side of Fig. 7, a plate 6 without flanges e is shown, but the nut d and plate 6 clamp the end link firmly in the indentation b and prevent its pivotal movement upon the shoe.

In Fig. 11, I have shown the plate e with flanges e clamping the end link (1 upon the inner face of the side wall b the nut d being on the outside. I

Instead of oval chain links a, connected by other coupling links g, I may employ a link-bar intended to be pivotally secured at its ends to one side of a pair of adjacent shoes I) b. Such a link-bar h is shown in Fig 5. A similar linkbar would be provided for that same pair of shoes on the opposite side thereof. This linkbar it is provided at each end with a longitudinal slot h in which a distance piece 0 is inserted, the pivots for the bar It passing through the cross-bores c in the distance pieces 0. The pivot may be a bolt d. The pulling face of the slot h adjacent to the center line of the shoe is curved at h so that either the groove 0 or the groove (2 at the ends of the distance piece 0 can engage such pulling face. distance piece 0 end to end in the slot 71. the effective length of the link-bar h canbe altered. Aflat retaining plate 6 is provided on thepivotdandmay be kept in position by a nut d upon the screwed end of such pivot as will be understood. It will be noted that a slot h is provided at each end of the one link-bar and that an eccentric distance piece 0 is inserted in each slot, so that the same effect is obtained as by inserting a distance piece 0 in each of the extremital chain links a By reversing the removable ids This intermediate distance piece is simple and inexpensive, it is easily slipped upon the anchorage post d inthe selected position and it enables me to dispense with'separate adjustable links in the coupling chain represented by a y; it also allowsthe effective length of each end coupling the link-bar or end chain link forming the cou- I.

pling member.

It is to be understood that my invention can be applied to any form of shoe for a traction belt of the overall type having coupling linkages between adjacent shoes of the belt.

What I claim'is:

1. In a traction belt mechanism comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe having a main tread ice portion set across the line of travel of the belt and side wings on said tread portion, anchorage posts mounted on said side wings, distance pieces mounted on said posts, and coupling members extending from adjacent shoes'and engaged with said distance pieces, said distance pieces being adjustable by partial rotation in relation to said anchorage posts for varying the efiective length of said coupling members.

2. In a traction belt comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe having a main tread portion set across the line of travel of the belt, side wings on said tread portion, anchorage posts mounted on said side wings, washers each having an aperture receiving a post, the aperture being off center of the washer longitudinally of the belt, and coupling linkages extending from adjacent shoes, said washers being fitted inside the end links of said linkages and being reversible in said links for varying the effective length of said linkages.

3. In a traction belt comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe of trough section having a tread portion and side wings, anchorage posts mounted on said side wings, washers each having an aperture receiving one of said posts, the aperture being ofi center of the washer longitudinally of the belt, sets of coupling chain links extending from adjacent shoes, the extremital link of each said set being engaged with one of said washers, said washers being slidable in said extremital links, and means carried by said anchorage post for maintaining the washer in position.

4. In a traction belt comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe comprising a tread portion and side wings at the ends of said tread portion, anchorage posts mounted on said side wings, coupling members connecting the shoe with adjacent shoes, said coupling members consisting of link bars having slots near their extremities, and oblong distance pieces fitting said slots and slidable therein, said oblong distance pieces each having an aperture nearer one end than the other and being adapted to be fitted over said posts by means of said bores.

5. In a traction belt comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe of trough section having a tread portion and side wings, anchorage posts carried by said side wings, sets of chain links extending from adjacent shoes in the belt, a distance piece slidably fitted in an extremital link of each of said sets, said distance piece being of oblong shape and grooved at each of its ends, said distance piece having an aperture fitted on one of said anchorage posts, said aperture being off center of said distance piece longitudinally of the belt, and said distance piece being reversible in said extremital link for varying the effective length of the set of chain links, and a retaining plate also mounted on said anchorage post and secured thereon, said retaining plate holding said distance piece against said side wing.

6. In a traction belt mechanism comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe having a tread portion and side wings, anchorage posts carried by said side wings, sets of chain links extending from adjacent shoes in the traction belt, distance pieces of oblong shape having apertures for mounting on said posts, the apertures in said distance pieces being nearer one end than the other, said distance pieces fitting inside extremital links of said sets and being reversible end to end therein, and flanged retaining plates mounted on said anchorage posts and secured in position thereon, said retaining plates holding said distance pieces against said side wings and also clamping said extremital links thereagainst.

7. In a traction belt mechanism comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe of trough section having a tread portion and side walls, anchorage bolts carried by said side walls, sets of chain links extending from adjacent shoes in the traction belt, distance pieces engaged with said anchorage bolts and fitting wholly inside extremital links of said sets, and means carried by said bolts for clamping said extremital links firmly against said side walls.

8. In a traction belt mechanism comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe having a tread portion and side wings secured to said tread portion, anchorage bolts carried by said side wings, sets of chain links extending from adjacent shoes in the traction belt, a distance piece fitting slidably inside an extremital link of each set and having an aperture engaged with one said anchorage bolt, said aperture being off center of the distance piece longitudinally of the belt, and a retaining plate secured upon said bolt, said plate being clamped against the said extremital link by the nut on said bolt to hold said link firmly against the side wing of the shoe.

9. In a traction belt comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe having a tread plate and side wings, anchorage bolts passing through said side wings, coupling linkages attached to adjacent shoes, the extreme members of said linkages encircling said anchorage bolts, washers having eccentric apertures mounted on said bolts and fitting inside said extreme linkage'members, said washers being reversible for varying the effective length of said coupling linkages, and retaining plates supported from the said side wings and clamped against the extreme members of said linkages.

10. In a traction belt shoe of the character described, the combination of an anchorage post mounted upon the shoe, a coupling link having a slot therein, a removable washer mounted upon said anchorage post and fitted in said slot, said washer having its periphery eccentric to said post and being reversible longitudinally of the belt, and a retaining plate also mounted upon said post and covering said eccentric, reversible washer.

11. In a traction belt comprising a plurality of shoes, a shoe including a tread plate and side wings secured to said tread plate, said plate and wings being of trough section, indentations in said side wings, anchorage posts mounted on said side wings and projecting outwardly of the shoe from said indentations, sets of coupling chain links extending from adjacent shoes of the belt, the end link of each set passing around 125 one of said anchorage posts and being fitted into the indentation from which the said post projects, an eccentric member mounted onsaid post and fitting inside said end link for varying the effective length of the said end link, and means also mounted on the said post for clamping said end link firmly against the base of said indentation.

12. In a traction belt comprising a series of shoes each formed of a tread plate with side walls and having coupling chain links attached to said side walls, the combination of an anchoring post mounted on one of said side walls at right angles thereto, a distance piece having an aperture eccentric of the length thereof, said aperture receiving said anchorage post, said distance piece fitting slidably inside an end link of the respective coupling chain and being reversible in said link for varying the effective length of said coupling chain links, and means carried 145 by the said anchorage post for retaining the said distance piece in either of its operative positions.

DONALD STUART KENNEDY. 

